By Michaela Gordoni
WINDY CITY REHAB star Alison Victoria believes if she hadn’t quit drinking, she may have lost the love of her life.
“I don’t need alcohol to be fun, I am still the one dancing on the tables, I’m still the same,” she said in her podcast this week.
Victoria has stayed sober for eight months and has been dating her boyfriend, Brandt Anderson, since June last year.
She recalled the last night she drank. She was in Amman, Jordan, attending a film festival for Anderson’s directorial debut, THE STRANGER’S CASE.
Victoria was getting her makeup done and had multiple margaritas. Before heading to the theater to watch a screening, she hopped on a phone call with someone to discuss filming an upcoming show. While on the phone, she saw a shop across the street.
“I remember there was, like, this shiny liquor store with this big refrigerator with tons of Corona and I’m like, ‘I’m just going to get a Corona. Like, let me just chug a beer.’ I’m doing my call, I’m having a beer,” she said.
She ended up having multiple beers over a couple of hours while she hung out with the store owner in her inebriated state. Anderson texted Victoria and sent a friend to go look for her. She showed up after the movie screened, drunk.
As she told the story, she spoke directly to Anderson: “I show up at the end of the film, everyone’s walking out, you are walking out. You’re like, ‘Where were you, are you okay?’ I’m like “Yeah I made a new friend.’ Noticeably, I’m drunk. Obviously, I’m drunk and we have this dinner that I’ve planned and that I’ve worked on for a while.”
She had planned a fancy dinner for several VIPs, including members of the royal family. Anderson didn’t speak to Victoria, but his friend lectured her. They continued with their plan to host dinner.
Related: HGTV Star Announces Personal Victory: 8 Months of Sobriety
“In retrospect, it was just not good behavior; I wasn’t being respectful of my environment,” she said.
The next day, Anderson told her he couldn’t fly back home with her and needed space to figure out if their relationship could continue.
She admitted her drinking was a “really ugly, spiraling process if it kept going.” She decided, “I’m just going to do something about it. I don’t want to lose the best thing that’s ever happened to me over alcohol. What a disgusting thing to choose over you.”
Anderson also gave up alcohol and Victoria says she feels incredibly safe with him.
“It’s like I don’t have to wear that armor with him. And I get to just be, like, my authentic, vulnerable, scared-little-girl self with him and he takes care of me,” she said last November.
“I have all this clarity and we’ve never been stronger,” Victoria said. “It’s never been better, like, I’ve always felt so close to you, but there was definitely this, like, elephant in the room that’s called tequila.”
She told Chicago Magazine of quitting alcohol, “My skin’s never looked better, and my overall happiness is better, too.”
Congrats, Victoria! Here’s to healthy decisions.
Read Next: Actor Danny Trejo Credits ‘Grace of God’ for 55 Years Sober
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